My Side Of The Story

I’m not really that evil, you know.  I just get a bad rap.  I know, I know, right now you’re thinking, “but you forced a couple to give you their baby, locked a little girl in a tower, and then when she got a boyfriend you abandoned her to the wilderness to die and blinded the guy in question! ” But has anybody asked for my side of the story?  No! So, now I’m gonna ram it down your throats.

#

Now about the whole making-a-couple-give-me-their -first-born-child thing.  Okay, I’ll admit, that was bad.  Okay, it was really bad. The thing you have to understand is how heart-wrenchingly lonely my life was. I had no husband to share my life with, the happiness, the bad days, you get the idea. Consequently, no children. I didn’t even have any friends! Well, no human friends at least.

There was, however, my garden.

It spread throughout the estate with little rhyme or reason.  Beautiful, fragrant roses in every color, red and orange and white and yellow, even blue.  Delicate, colorful peonies. Spicy-smelling Sweet William. Bright yellow primrose. And yes, vegetables, like the Rapunzel leaf.

 I loved each plant as if they were children. My children.  So, you can only imagine my devastation when I found someone had been pilfering my precious Rapunzel leaf!  So, I devised a plan to catch the thief.

#

I waited up, watching from a window that gave me a complete view of my property.   Sure enough, the next night, I catch one of the men from the village scaling my wall, Rapunzel leaves in hand!  Fury took over me! In my rage I flew down from my window and snatched him from the wall.  Holding him by his shirt as I flew back down into the garden, with him screaming his head off the whole time.

In hindsight, perhaps I overreacted just a bit.

You know what happened next. I went a little crazy.  Okay, more than a little crazy, I threatened to kill the guy. I admitted I overreacted, did I not? Anyway, then he tells me his sob story about his preggers wife craving the leaves to the point of death, and I, seeing a way out of my loneliness, agree to let him have as many as he needs on the condition, they give me the baby when it’s born, and he agreed to it.  That’s the part people seem to forget.  He. Agreed. To. The Deal.  

And hey, after I had some time to think, I realized I might have been a bit harsh, and was going to let them out of it, but…then I saw the baby.  She was such a beautiful little thing, downturned eyes I couldn’t stop staring at. Little fingers I couldn’t stop counting.  I couldn’t bring myself to let her go. So, I did the next best thing. I moved far away where they didn’t have to watch someone else raise their child.

Okay, maybe it wasn’t the kindness I thought it was in retrospect.

#

I also had a good reason for locking her in a tower.

It all started when she was twelve. The story did get one thing right, she grew into the most beautiful child in the world: Cool shell skin, waist length golden hair, downturned eyes of cornflower blue.

We were the only two people around, okay?! I had her features pretty much memorized! And yes, I’m aware I might be biased because I’m her mother. Well, kind of.

Anyhow, one day I was working in my garden and let her get out of my sight. I don’t know how long she was out of my sight, but suddenly I heard her cry out, “Mother! Mother, help!”

I looked around but couldn’t find her, so I flew up to see the whole of my estate, and found to my horror, two brutes, trying to force my baby onto a horse.  Instantly I started muttering incantations and the men writhed in pain, releasing Rapunzel and then they slowly shrunk and withered until they became frogs.
Okay, maybe turning them into frogs was another overreaction, but I had to do something to stop them, right?

What did they want with Rapunzel? I don’t know. Perhaps they thought she was worth something, I mean, I did dress her as finely as a princess. Thought that silk dress didn’t look nearly as nice torn and covered with dirt.

I flew down to her at my fastest speed and scooped her up in my arms. “It’s alright, sweetheart,” I whispered into her ear as I rocked her back and forth, “It’s all going to be alright.”  And then I began whispering another incantation. “Build it up, higher, and higher, turn this cottage into a mighty tower!”  Slowly our house began to shift and change and grow into an impenetrable, immaculate tower of white marble, with neither stairs or door, only one room and one tiny window.

I took Rapunzel up in the air to that tiny window and placed her in the room. It contained everything her room had—lavender colored furniture, half-canopy bed.  

“M-mother,” She stammered, still shaken and now a bit disoriented, “What is this place?”

“Your new home,” I declared, “Here you will be safe from everything.”

In hindsight, I might have overacted again.  I mean, we lived in the middle of the forest, it was probably a freak incident.  And yes, I’m noticing a theme here. But, then again, as you know, someone did find us eventually…

#

Like the story goes, I didn’t know about the prince at first.  Still, there were signs I probably should have noticed.

Like the time I came to check on Rapunzel and out of the corner of my eye I thought I saw someone darting away.  I didn’t think much of it at time, but now I know it was the prince, running when he heard me coming.

A few years before all this I hit my head in an accident and for some reason since then had trouble flying short distances, so I developed another way of getting into the tower. It started by making a simple request, you may or may not know how it goes. The whole version of gets left out sometimes.

“Rapunzel, Rapunzel let down your hair, so that I may climb the golden stair.”

It was a little elaborate, I know, but that way she would know for sure it was me.  After she got up older, I probably could have stopped that, but it was habit, you know?

As per usual, Rapunzel tossed down a long golden braid, and I carefully walked up, making sure not to pull too hard for fear of hurting her. “Hello, my darling,” I said, as I stepped over the windowsill, “How is your day?”

“Fine mother,” she said, pulling up her hair. She was sixteen now, lean, and elegant with hair that trailed the length of the room.  She was also woefully naive in every sense of the word.  That was my fault again.  Let this be a lesson to you: near-total isolation is a horrible parenting strategy.

As I left that night, I thought I heard rustling in the bushes.  With a flick of my wrist, I pulled the offending bushes apart, but there was nothing there. Deciding I was being paranoid, I started on the short walk to my cabin.

The next incident was about a month and a half later.  I was visiting Rapunzel and by chance noticed a small piece of fiber on her bedside table.  I picked it up and realized it was a strain of silk. “Rapunzel,” I began, “What’s this?”

She got what you would call in today’s vernacular that deer-in-the-headlights look, but quickly regained her composure and said, “A piece of one my dresses must have frayed.”

Considering that she had numerous dresses, several of which were silk or satin or the like, and at least one of which was white, in fact she was wearing white that day, I didn’t think much of it.  However, if I   paid close attention, I would have noticed some of her dresser drawers looking suspiciously full, and a small bit of a rope ladder sticking out from underneath her mattress.

You see, what I didn’t know at the time-and what they don’t put in most modern tellings- is that the prince had been climbing up the tower each night, bringing her a piece of silk which she was supposed to gradually weave into a ladder.  I suppose once that ladder was finished, she was going to climb down it and he was going to take her home to his parents who were just going to welcome this strange girl into their home with open arms.  I think the fact that this seemed like a realistic plan says all that needs to be said about the young lover’s intellectual capabilities at the time.

#

They didn’t get very far in the plan, though.  A month later, I climbed up the tower to find her fiddling uncomfortably with her dress, a blue satin number with an overlay of beads craved from pale purple jade.

“Rapunzel?” I asked, concerned, “Is there something wrong with your dress?”

“It’s my dress,” She said, fiddling at the cloth around her waist, “It’s too tight.”

It was then I noticed that Rapunzel looked more than a little stout in that area.

“Come here a minute,” I said, walking over to her and feeling her waist.  As my hand crossed her stomach, I felt a tiny heartbeat that made my own heart stop cold.

That’s impossible I thought. No one knows about her, but me, and even if someone did, she knows not to let anyone up here. She knows…

“What is it?”  Rapunzel asked, scared by my silence, “What’s wrong?”

“I think…” My voice trailed off, not believing what I was about to say, “You’re pregnant.”

That’s another thing they cut out of the theme park version.  The Grim brothers manage to get that much right, though. But even they get the next part a little skewed.

Rapunzel instantly burst into tears and began telling me the truth of what had been happening the last three months as I prepared a spell that would tell us for sure if she was pregnant. Call it a precursor to the EPT if you will.

 “After you left someone asked me to let them up the way you always do,” She began once she had calmed down, “I let them up, but it was boy about, my age.”

“Why didn’t you call out for me?” I demanded, as I finished with the herbs I needed for the spell.

“I was about to, but he said, he didn’t want to hurt me,” She answered, “He heard my singing and he wanted to meet me.”

“And who is this sweet talker?”  I said, the speed of my cutting increasing with my anger.

“Prince Axel,” She replied, “He visited a few more times and then he asked me to marry him.”

“And let me guess,” I cut in bitterly, “You said yes.”

Rapunzel nodded. “But we couldn’t figure out how to get both of us down by my hair, so Axel’s been bringing me a piece of silk every night, and I’ve been weaving it into a ladder.  She brought out from under the bed, a white rope ladder that wouldn’t even go down half the height of the tower.

Once again, my anger got the better of me. Not just because of the pregnancy, but because after all the years of love, devotion, and care I had given her, she was going to leave me.   Without a word, she would have just been gone. I would have been left assuming the worst had happened, never knowing what became of her.  “You little wrench!”  I yelled, lashing out and slicing through her braid with the knife I had been using to cut herbs.  “What were you thinking?!  Did you even care about what it would do to me to lose you?!” I reached out in pulled her up by what was left her hair, grabbing her tightly before flying out the window.

“Where are you taking me?!” Rapunzel sobbed, as we flew further and further into the wilderness.

“You want to leave so badly?!” I shouted at her, “I’ll let you!”

Yes, I am well aware I overreacted again, okay?!   It’s my fatal flaw! I know!

#

Admittedly, I had been intending to leave her in the wilderness to fend for herself, just like the story said, but by the time I landed I had calmed down a bit, and suddenly, there was my little girl, terrified and crying, begging me not to hate her.  That sort of thing softens your heart a bit.

“Come here,” I said, wrapping my arms around my daughter, “Shh, I don’t hate you. I could never hate you. It’s going to be alright.”   I stood back and saw the cave I had landed in front of, and an idea began to form.  “Still, ” I said at last, “This might not be a bad place for you to stay for a while, while I deal with your prince. “

“Please Mother,” Rapunzel pleaded, “Please don’t hurt him.”

“I won’t,” I reassured her, though I wasn’t entirely sure it was the truth.

So, after I set Rapunzel up in the cave I flew back to the tower, readied Rapunzel’s severed hair, and waited.  I wasn’t sure what I wanted, vengeance, an answer of why, child support, I just knew I wanted something from him.

The sun had barely set when I heard s male voice call out, “Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your hair, so that I may climb the golden stair.”

Rolling my eyes, I tossed the hair down to him. He took several minutes, trying to be careful.  When he finally got up to the window, I was surprised by how boyish he looked.  For a minute he was a freckled faced kid, staring at me with wide eyes. He couldn’t have been much older than Rapunzel, if not the same age.  Then thoughts of Rapunzel reminded me why I was there, and I roughly pulled him through the window.

 “Where’s Rapunzel?” He demanded, getting to his feet, “What have you done to her?”

This coming from the guy who knocked her up. Can you believe the gall?! I certainly couldn’t.

“What have I-” I gapped, “I have done nothing to her. You, young man, on the other hand have a lot to answer for, and I will see to it that you never see her again.”

Again, considering the situation, it  probably wasn’t not the best thing. I have regrets.

He must have thought I had killed her, because then he shouted, “No!” And tried to jump out the window.  I leapt out and grabbed him, trying to stop him, and we struggled until both of us went over the edge. I managed to fly up, but somehow in the process, I let him go, and he fell into a thorn bush, the thorns blinding him.  Yet another thing that got cut out of the theme park version and that one I’m glad for. It wasn’t my finest moment. But, still, it was an accident.

By the time I had flown down to try to help, he had gotten free and ran off.  Newly blinded and distraught he wasn’t the most stealthy, leaving a trail of footprints, thorns and blood drops.

“Axel?” I called out, fallowing the trail, “Axel, come back! It’s not what you think! I’m sorry about your eyes!”

#

Somehow, I could not managed to find an injured, blind teenager in the forest, leaving me to tell Rapunzel what happened.  She was …not happy, to say the least, but was expected.

She refused to forgive me.  She wouldn’t speak to me except to refuse to go back to the tower saying she would rather stay in the cave.  Remorseful for my part in her misery, I spent the time I wasn’t nursing her through the pregnancy searching the wastelands for Axley, praying somehow it wasn’t too late.

 Six months later, a boy and a girl were born, named Asher and Marigold respectively, continuing the tradition of plant names.  Asher had his mother’s golden hair and his father’s gray eyes.  Marigold had a few strands of golden blonde hair, which is in part where her name came from, and Rapunzel’s blue eyes.

And with the birth of these children, two strange and wonderful things happened.  First, becoming a mother herself made Rapunzel see things from my view, and realized that, it was an accident, so she finally forgave me.

The second one was, I actually found Prince Axel!  Surprised? So was I! His wounded eyes were infected, and he was malnourished, but he was alive.

 Considering how our last encounter ended, I used my magic to make him a path towards Rapunzel cave in secret, until the both of us heard the eternal singing that had brought him to Rapunzel in the first place.  She had just got the children to sleep when she saw him on the other side of the river.

“Axel!”  Rapunzel shouted, running across the fortunately shallow water.  She leapt into his arms. “When mother told me what happened, I thought…” She began to cry in earnest. Her tears were my inspiration.

“Tears of pain, tears of joy,  tears of fear, turn these tears to healing tears,” I whispered from my hiding spot behind a tree.

As Rapunzel’s tears hit Axel’s eyes, they healed.  He blinked in surprise, then caressed her face before kissing her passionately. “Let’s go home.” He suggested.

“Not yet” She replied, “You have to meet your children first.”

Axel’s eyes widened, “What?!”

“That’s how Mother found out.” Rapunzel explained, “Why she was so angry. She found out I was pregnant.”

Axel just looked slacked jawed for a moment, Rapunzel’s face fearful.

I swear, if he tries to run, I’m blinding him on purpose this time. I thought, watching with baited beath.

Okay, maybe I hadn’t learned my lesson at that point, yet.  But parental abandonment is a serious matter!

Suddenly he broke out into a grin. “Take me to them. Please.”

#

As Axel got acquainted with his children, I crept into the cave to tell my little girl goodbye and maybe get one last look at my grandchildren.

“What do you mean goodbye?” She demanded, “You’re coming with us.”

“Rapunzel, Axel will never agree to that,” I replied, “He jumped out of a window to get away from me.”

“That was before,” Axel said, stepping out of the cave with Marigold in his arms, “Rapunzel explained everything to me.  I’m sorry, Dame Gothel. I love your daughter, I never intended to harm her. Thought we clearly should have waited until marriage for—well, you know.”

“Yes, I’m aware.” I snarked.

Axel cringed. “And I would be honored to call you mother-in-law. If you’ll have me.”

I couldn’t help but smile. “Of course, I will.”

#

And so, we went to the capital city, where Axel and Rapunzel were quickly and quietly married.  From there it goes the way the story says, they all lived happily ever after.  I still kept an eye on my Rapunzel’s descendants. They hardly ever see me, they rarely know I’m there, but I am watching over them, always.

So, now you know my side of the story. What do you think?